 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Musikat
Date: 2017-04-20 23:37
I have started myself on an odyssey to find a new mouthpiece. My current one I have had for well over 20 years (a Rick Sayre). After high school I went to custom mouthpieces and have never played on anything else. A few years ago when I first started playing again after a 9-year hiatus I went to my local music shop out of curiosity and tried some Vandorens and Ricos but in my short experimentation with them they didn't come close to what I already had, so I stuck with that.
Since then I have been playing a lot more, joined a second band and clarinet choir and have started playing almost exclusively 1st part in those groups. I recently had my instrument worked on and when I picked it up I noted that I was still having some problems with wide intervals not speaking easily, particularly B and C around the break, and my altissimo never sounds like I want it to. I can make it speak and be in tune, but it doesn't have the richness or control I want to achieve. It was suggested that maybe my old mouthpiece needs refacing, which led me to investigate what else might be out there.
Through research on here and the web I found that not only is Sayre in Illinois but also Smith and Grabner and coincidentally I am going to be there in a few weeks for business so I am bringing my instrument along. Gregory Smith is sending me two C 1++ mouthpieces to try in advance, which is what he recommended based on our call. I will visit Grabner's shop to try several of his models while I am there. If there is time I will swing by Sayre and have him look at my existing one.
My question is about reed strength. Based on what I was told and what I am reading, many of the models I will try are optimized for a 3.5, which in my mind is "soft." Is it a big adjustment to go down a half strength for a new mouthpiece? For trying them, can I compromise and buy 3.5+ or should I have all three boxes of reed strengths with me? I have become set in my ways and routines with my V12 4s but don't want to limit myself just based on the reed.
Also, I am used to doing quite a bit of work on my reeds with a very slow break-in. If I do take varying strengths should I break them in at all first?
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-04-21 00:15
Taking your last question first, I would say breaking reeds in that you plan to use to test mouthpieces isn't necessary and maybe not especially productive. You just want to find out how the mouthpiece responds. You probably won't be playing on one reed long enough to waterlog it and, if you do, get out another one.
As to pre-adjusting reeds (if that's what you mean by being "used to doing quite a bit of work" on them, I don't think there's much point to this when you're trying new mouthpieces. You adjust reeds to the mouthpiece you're using them on. If the new mouthpieces were to play the same way your current one does, there would be no point in replacing it with any of them.
I would go with several each of at least two strengths - the one the mouthpiece maker recommends and one slightly harder (3.5 and 3.75, perhaps). I don't think of V.12 #4 as "hard" and #3.5 as "soft." They aren't that far apart, but one will probably sound and respond better than the other, which should be your real concern. I sometimes find myself going up and down between adjacent strengths depending on what I'm playing.
You have to try mouthpieces with a reed of *some* strength. You could tell Greg Smith, Walter Grabner and Rick Sayre that you want a facing that's optimal with a #4 V.12 reed and let them do what needs to be done. But IMO it's better to try the mouthpieces they have with the reed strength they recommend and, if that seems too soft, try the next strength higher. If you really want to stay with the harder strength, you could ask once you've chosen a mouthpiece to have the facing optimized for a #4, but that's a custom facing which may (should) cost more and will be non-returnable if you aren't happy with the result.
Karl
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2017-04-21 01:31
Pick out a few reeds of several strengths that play well on your current mouthpiece. Make sure they're balanced between left and right and are flat on the bottom. These will give the other makers' stuff a fair chance of showing what they can do.
Then just slap them on, make sure they're aligned right, and blow. You'll know within a half a second what works and what doesn't.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Musikat
Date: 2017-04-21 02:17
Thanks for the responses. Just to clarify the question, I want to know:
1. Do I need to invest in two extra boxes of reeds that I may not be able to use depending on what I choose?. i.e. is there enough difference between V12 3.5 and 3.5+ to bother, or can I just buy one or the other? Most of the ones I am trying say they are optimized for 3.5-4 so I thought 3.5+ might be a "happy medium" that would give me enough idea to try. I am trying to save where I can and three boxes is almost $100 (I do have a new, unopened box of 4s already that I had already purchased). But if it is better to have a wider strength range and go with 3.5 I can do that.
2. My question about breaking in these "trial" reeds has to do with how much work, if any, to do on them first and how much to play them. I find that my reeds can change significantly over the course of a week or more of break-in and a new, out- of-the-box reed, even if great, has a harsher character than a beautifully mellowed broken-in one and I want to have the best idea of how the mouthpiece will sound. With the ones being sent to me I will have some time to break reeds in, but the ones I am trying there I won't and I want a fair comparison to make the right choice.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2017-04-21 03:03
The reed and mouthpiece have to be appropriate for one another, and it's hard to hear what a mouthpiece is going to sound like with an appropriate reed if all you have to try it with are inappropriate ones. I've shot myself in the foot numerous times by being too rigid about the kind of mouthpiece, and especially facing, I "like," which caused the people not to show me styles that might have been really great. It's good to listen to the hints and recommendations these people might be kind enough to give you, and be as prepared as possible to go with the flow. It's possible to get a really great sound with no. 3 reeds, and some mouthpieces will knock your socks off, but only with a 4 1/2 reed. Stuff's an art, not a science.
Some friends and I at one point got into this thing about "breaking in" reeds by holding the tip on the mouthpiece table and flipping the back of the reed back and forth with our index fingers. I kid you not. If you have a box of a given strength, at least a few will probably play well enough for long enough to try out a few mouthpieces without doing anything to them first, which will probably give you a better idea of what the mouthpieces are like.
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Author: Bob Barnhart ★2017
Date: 2017-04-21 06:32
Some years ago I bought a Greg Smith Chedeville 1+ and used to play V12 #4s on it.
At the time Greg cautioned against playing too heavy a reed as it did not allow the mouthpiece to "do the work".
Since then I have learned to play softer reeds and would now us a VD Traditional #3 or V12 #3.5, so these do not (now) seem too soft.
Bob Barnhart
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Author: Musikat
Date: 2017-04-21 06:55
Just out of curiosity, how do you "learn" to play softer reeds? Is there a different technique? Every time I have tried they sound good for a day or two then they are awful. I like the response when I first try them, but then the tone gets too soft sounding and they just don't respond well.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2017-04-21 17:30
Relax the embouchure, maybe work with how much mouthpiece is in the mouth, and pay attention to the balance of embouchure tension, air support and pressure, the volume you're trying to play at, and so on. If a soft reed goes bad after a day or two, it's probably biting or just too tight an embouchure. But maybe your mouthpiece just needs a harder reed, or if it's a long facing, more cane in the middle of the reed. Different brands of softer reeds have different profiles.
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2017-04-21 18:04
I think the best thing to do when trying out mouthpieces, is to invest in a couple of boxes of new reeds. Don't break them in using your existing mouthpiece. If you do that, you will select only the reeds that work on your old mouthpiece and it will cause you to reject anything that is different.
My recommendation is to show up with a box or two of 3.5's and 4.0's and see what happens.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
Buffet Clarinets and Bass Clarinets
World class, hand crafted mouthpieces
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Author: Musikat
Date: 2017-04-21 18:19
Per your email, that is what I have decided to do. One box 3.5 and one box 4's. I'm looking forward to it!
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